'That's My Daddy's Beer'

Mom's all have war stories to tell about trips to the grocery store with toddlers. Add additional toddlers to the task and the stories just get that much better. Cam amd was the star of 1 of my favorite.

Mostly, Cam behaved well for me, but this particular day was chalked full of his 3 year old curiosity. First, he decided to explore the eggs. He reached behind him, opened the carton and took a big bite out of the pristine white orb. Boy was he surprised by the gooey glob that was inside, from his expression the taste wan't too satisfying either. Luckily, I had already grabbed the now, much needed paper towels, so I ripped them open and started cleaning the drippy mess, first from the cart and its contents, then from the puzzled, not so happy child.

This quick trip to the store was taking a bit longer than I thought. After mopping up the mess I took some time to cuddle my distressed son. We quickly finished our shopping and raced to the checkout only to get stuck behind several people with big orders. Cam was definitely not patient by this point.

Now, I should point out this was over 20 years ago, back when the checkers removed items from the basket and actually punched in the prices. Bar codes? We had no stinking bar codes! Finally, it was our turn. She took the eggs from the cart and informed me that 1 was missing. Did I want her to get me another carton? I smiled and told us about Cam's curiously surprising moment and no I would take these eggs. Next, she grabbed the paper towels. 'Well, these have been open,' she said this like she had not just heard my tale of the egg biting. Duh! No, I assured her I would take that roll of paper towels too. She sort of shook her head and continued. Then she came to Ron's beer. As she removed it from my cart, my son had been patient long enough. Cam got a disgusted look in his eye and yelled at the top of his 3 year old lungs. 'THAT'S MY DAD'S BEER!' She froze with the beer in the air, Cam looked at her like she was a criminal with his hands on his hips, and I held my breath for a moment and then burst out laughing with tears rolling down my cheeks.

This sweet little boy, who listened for his Daddy's car each afternoon, then ran to the fridge to present his Daddy with a welcome home beer, was not going to let some strange lady snatch that beer away. Needless to say, she was as glad to see us exiting the grocery store and her line as we were to be getting out of there. Now that was 1 for his baby book!

In Him,
Joyfully remembering times with my son
6-11-2010